[3] OncoMed's drug discovery work focuses on developing "targeted antibodies against cancer stem cells".
[3] The cancer stem cell technologies on which OncoMed depends are licensed from the University of Michigan where they were developed by the founders of the company.
[6] In 2007, Oncomed consolidated its operations located in Mountain View and Palo Alto, California onto the single headquarters campus at Seaport Centre in Redwood City.
[3] By 2014, the list of firms pursuing therapies targeting cancer stem cells had grown to include Boston Biomedical (a subsidiary of Dainippon Sumitomo Pharma), GlaxoSmithKline, Astellas Pharma, Sanofi (the American subsidiary) and Pfizer; however, Stemline and Verastem remain the only two competitors solely focused on cancer stem cells.
[9] Two candidate drugs being co-developed with Bayer, ipafricept and vantictumab, showed in mid-2014 indications of "causing mild-to-moderate bone-related side effects" among Phase I clinical trial participants, an observation which led the company to halt enrollment and dosing in the trials, and which contributed to a sharp decline in share price.